Berries for Breakfast | Healthy Family Breakfast

I was chatting with a friend recently about the challenge of creating healthy family meals. In our family- with two children under 4, a teenager, and two adults- it's not always easy coming up with nutritious meals that everyone will actually eat. It's not just a matter of picky either, some of us have food sensitivities too. The traditional 'suck it up buttercup' thing doesn't work so well with those.

One of the ways we tackle our diet is by looking at things we all like and tweaking them so they're a bit more healthy. Little shifts like this all the time mean we may not be perfect, but we're always making strides towards better health. Finding a few super ingredients that everyone loves is a HUGE help. For us, one of those ingredients is berries. Versatile, tasty, healthy, berries.

I love smoothies because they're super fast, and you can pack in a ton of nutrients by playing with the ingredients. Even for the teenager in the house, a cup of mixed berries, a cup of milk, and a cup of yogurt thrown in the blender for a minute is a fast and easy breakfast smoothie that feels like a real treat. You can add other fruit, flax, wheat germ, and substitute dairy for almond milk, silken tofu, and ice. The possibilities are endless, and you end up with a quick and uber healthy meal.

~Healthy Family Breakfast~

Berries also work well as a delicious topping on pancakes, crepes, french toast, or waffles. Waffles are the number one choice in our house because (made in advance, or purchased frozen) they're incredible easy and fast in the morning.

Homemade Waffles with Berries

WAFFLES: Although we make our own waffles (you'll find some cool waffle recipes below), you can definitely use frozen waffles.

BERRY 'SAUCE': We love fresh local berries, but they're not always available, so we buy bulk frozen berries when we can't do fresh. You can heat the berries on the stove, or in the microwave until they reduce into a sauce and then top waffles, pancakes, or crepes. For a special treat, or as dessert you can top with fresh maple syrup, brown sugar, or a bit of honey. Sweet!

It's not revolutionary, but in our family making drastic changes to our diet (or anything else) isn't the best way to set us all up for success. Looking at the things we already eat and love, then changing them in subtle ways is the most practical and effective way to improve our health bit by bit every day.